Irish seventh of a seventh son makes international press as faith healer

Danny Gallagher, from Maghera, County Derry, has the power to heal people by touching them. Since he discovered his gift, he has traveled around Ireland, Britain and the world curing people with various ailments such as arthritis, eczema, anorexia and depression.

At the age of eight, Gallagher experienced vivid dreams which communicated to him that he had a strange power over illness. However he did not act on the message these dreams had brought him.

Having finished school, Gallagher bought an ice cream van and worked in his hometown. He would always save a free ice cream for a disabled girl who lived in the town. His gift only came into the public eye when he cured the girl of her ailment. His local newspaper picked up on the story and his life quickly changed.

People from the town were queuing up to be healed by the seventh son of a seventh son. Although many did not believe in his powers they were drawn to him by the tradition of the powers which was passed down through generations.

The media quickly took notice of Gallagher’s powers as those he had cured came forward. According to reports in the Kilkenny Advertiser, the press initially tried to out him as a fraud.

Their criticism drove Gallagher to take the boat to Britain. He had intended to tour the country but he settled in the industrial heartland where he found many in need of his services.

One of his cures became famous. Jean Pritchett, a 40-year-old housewife had been blind for 22 years. She was diagnosed with “retinitis pigmentosa." Although she had attended physicians all over Britain she had found no cure.

In October 1976, Gallagher cured her. She could see. Her story made front page headlines but the medical profession were immediately critical. A specialist even suggested that Pritchett had been suffering from hysterical blindness.

A month after healing Pritchett, Gallagher cured Kathleen Bailey. Bailey, a 29-year-old mother of three, had been confined to a wheelchair as her spine degenerated after an injury 11 years previous. Her condition was not responding to medical treatment. It was steadily getting worse.

Her friends and relatives brought her to Gallagher’s clinic in Erdington, Birmingham. After treatment from Gallagher, she was able to leave her wheelchair and walk.

Gallagher told the Limerick Post, “I don’t feel any different to anybody else. I never asked to be a healer, it just happened. I can’t explain it.”

The humble faith healer is currently touring Ireland creating clinics for the ill to visit and being healed. He has been on hand to heal US soldiers who were injured in the Iraq war and football stars such as David Beckham.